Dispatch 23: Captain's Table

Rick Krishfield

August 27, 2006

The view of the ice pack from the bridge of the Louis as we head north. Photo by Rick Krishfield, WHOI.

Sunday supper at the Captain’s Table. Photo by Flo Carter.

After supper, it’s back to work on the foredeck for the WHOI mooring guys. Photo by Jane Eert, IOS.

No CTD stations or mooring work today as we steam north. As we already experienced last week and can see from the satellite images that are being received by Ice Observer Scott Payment, the ice conditions in this region are a bit peculiar this year, since there is some thicker multiyear pack ice south of 75° latitude, and less concentrated ice (less than 50%) between 75° and 76° N. So today the Louis must crunch through some thick ice, but tomorrow we expect more moderate conditions.

Meanwhile, Captain Andrew McNeill, Chief Officer John Jenner, Helicopter Pilot Chris Swannell, and Helicopter Technician Rob Locke meet with several of us who will be working on the ice in the near future to deploy buoys or make measurements. Some of the chemists spend time catching up on their backlog of samples, others in the science party process data, and some just take a break. Later a group of the scientists meet to show and discuss some of our preliminary results from the data already acquired during this cruise. The variety and quality of the observations is impressive, and the preliminary findings are exciting, although it will take many more months of analysis to completely understand the information.

Since it is Sunday, several members of the science party will be honored by being invited to supper in the Captain’s Wardroom (which is normally not used during the week). This week, it is the turn of the WHOI mooring group, along with Mary Steele and Jane Eert from IOS to dine in style with the Captain, Chief Officer, Chief Engineer Donald Stortts, Logistics Officer Bill Brocklebank, and Cook Paul Devlin. Keeping with tradition, everyone dresses in their best attire. Drinks are had before the meal, followed by wine and an absolutely exquisite 5 course dinner. Good people, stimulating conversation and fine food make for a most pleasurable evening. Civilization flourishes even in this remote region of the Arctic.